Meet the Palestinian Teens Trying to Win Robotics Gold

Five Palestinian teenagers from Team Palestine are set to compete in the upcoming FIRST Global Challenge in Panama City, one of the world’s largest youth robotics competitions. Their robot is designed to navigate challenges inspired by climate change effects. Beyond aiming for victory, the team seeks to represent Palestine on the international stage and promote STEM education among peers affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict. The team’s efforts come amid ongoing regional instability, with a recent fragile ceasefire allowing them to finalize their project. Team Palestine was founded in 2018 by Khalil DarOmar and Sara Saleh, a husband-and-wife duo from Ramallah with backgrounds in computer science and logistics. Despite having no prior experience in robotics, they were motivated to ensure Palestine’s participation in the global competition. Early challenges included shipment restrictions imposed by Israeli military control, which prevented the team from receiving essential robotics kits. To overcome this, they collaborated remotely with teams from Canada and other countries, who built and transported the robot on their behalf. Over time,